This Wisconsin State University-La Crosse seminar paper examines the
editorials of the La Crosse, WI daily newspaper from 1933-1941 and its
gradual shift from isolationism to acceptance of war preparations against
Nazi Germany.

Taylor was born in
Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 1857, to Amanda Hines, a free black
woman. Taylor later reported that his father was Nathan Taylor, a slave.
Hines was forced to leave Arkansas in 1859 as a consequence of a new
law which required all free blacks to leave the state by 1 January
1860 or be sold as slaves. Hines died in Alton, Illinois, in 1861 or
1862, and young George was forced to live in “dry goods boxes” and
fend for himself.

In 1865 when he arrived
in La Crosse, Wisconsin, onboard the “Hawkeye State,” a
side-paddle vessel then operating on the upper Mississippi River. Taylor
lived in La Crosse only one or two years, after which he was “bound
out” to Nathan Smith of rural West Salem where he lived until
he reached the age of 20 years. He attended Wayland University in Beaver
Dam from 1877 to 1879, after which he settled in La Crosse and in the
employ of Marcus “Brick” Pomeroy, editor of Pomeroy’s
Democrat. From 1880 to 1885, Taylor wrote for several local papers
and contributed articles to the Chicago Inter Ocean. In 1885,
he was the editor of a newspaper supported financially by Frank “White
Beaver” Powell, and eventually became an important player in
Powell’s first two terms as mayor of La Crosse.

Lastly, In 1886 and
1887, Taylor became a crucial figure and office holder in Wisconsin’s
People’s Party and then its Union Labor Party. His Wisconsin
Labor Advocate was the voice of Wisconsin’s labor party
in 1886-1887. From 1891 to 1910, Taylor lived in Oskaloosa and Ottumwa,
Iowa, where he published a national magazine called the Negro Solicitor.
During this period he rose to prominence in national black politics,
acting as president of the National Colored Men’s Protective
Association and the National Negro Democratic League and served high
office in various other black organizations. In 1904, Taylor was selected
to lead the ticket of the National Negro Liberty Party for the office
of president of the United States. From 1910 to 1925, Taylor retreated
from the national stage and lived an active life in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Town of Campbell was created
at the time La Crosse County was organized in 1851.Campbell lost land
mass when dams were constructed on the Mississippi River in the 1930s. By
1954 the Town of Campbell had been split in two by the southern growth
of the city of Onalaska and the northern growth of the city of La Crosse. As
a result, the town of Medary was formed west of Oak St., leaving the
borders of the Town of Campbell largely to French Island and its environs.

This grouping of articles
highlights the ongoing discussion between the Town of Campbell and
the City of La Crosse regarding annexation, boundaries, efforts to
cooperate, and public services such as water. Since 1983
the city has tried to actively encourage Campbell residents to annex
to the city. A court decision in 2002 over annexation led to a split:
the city of La Crosse gained some properties on Hiawatha Island, a
small island east of French Island, while ruling that annexation into
French Island itself was invalid. Also several moves to incorporate
as a village began as early as 1966 and with the most recent effort
as late as 2002.

The Ten Commandments Monument
was donated to the city and dedicated in Cameron Park in conjunction
with a state Eagles Club convention held in La Crosse in 1965. Seen
as a religious symbol on public property, a lawsuit in 1985 sparked
a court battle between the Freedom From Religion Foundation, led by
Anne Gaylor, and the city. The case was dismissed in 1988. The issue
resurfaced in 2001 with more local citizen support, and the city sold
the small parcel of land where the monument stands to the Eagles Club
in 2002.

This paper written
by Harry F. Bangsberg was in partial fulfillment of a graduate class
assignment while attending the State University of Iowa (now Iowa State
University). Bangsberg tackles the question of why La Crosse Democrat
editor Mark "Brick" Pomeroy switched from first supporting
Lincoln and the Union cause to being a leader in the Copperhead movement
and labeling Lincoln as the "widow maker."

This
work, along with History of La Crosse County, 1881, are the preeminent
published sources for 19th century La Crosse history. Bryant’s
Memoirs, as it is commonly called, is a wide-ranging work that covers
the early history of La Crosse as well as the social, education, government,
religious, and business institutions. The book is divided into 22 chapters
and also includes brief histories of the smaller towns of La Crosse
County. An alphabetical name index to Bryant’s Memoirs was prepared
and digitized in 2004 and is available for searching at the “name
index” button.

Newspaper published
in La Crosse in 1886-1887. La Crosse was a hotbed of Labor political
party activity in the 1880s and the “Labor Advocate” was
one of at least four La Crosse area Labor-related newspapers from that
time. What makes the “Labor Advocate” unique was its editor
and owner: George Edwin Taylor. Taylor was an African-American, born
in Arkansas in 1857. As a black business owner, he was an anomaly in
La Crosse in the 1880s. Taylor got his start in publishing working
at other La Crosse newspapers. He also became increasingly interested
in politics as reflected in his editorship of the “Wisconsin
Labor Advocate.” The last existing edition of the paper dates
from August 6, 1887 and George Edwin Taylor left La Crosse soon afterwards.
He maintained a life-long interest in politics and by 1904 had become
involved an all African-American political party called the National
Liberty Party. Taylor accepted the nomination of that party in 1904
as its candidate for the office of the U.S. President. In doing so,
Taylor was the first candidate of a national African-American party
for the U.S. presidency.